What does a successful public relations program look like?

Successful districts know that the closer people can get to their local schools, the more they will support them. They don't over- look the neighborhood school when planning public relations efforts: they know that for most of the people in a school's service area, parents and non-parents, their local school alone represents the entire system (Decker & Decker, 1988). What does a school that has its public relations act together look like? Here are elements of schools that enjoy widespread community support:

• Leadership. School leadership instills a culture of openness and collegiality with community partners, and provides a strong central focus and plan.

• Teachers and staff. Schools that have used public relations successfully involve every staff member. Their daily commitment is the cornerstone of a successful marketing effort (Carroll & Carroll, 1994). They have absorbed the culture of excellence, and it influences their everyday actions and interactions with others. Even bus drivers, crossing guards, cafeteria workers, secretaries, and maintenance staff are aware that they can influence the community's perception of the school system.

• School facility. Every aspect of the school is open, helpful, and friendly (especially the front entrance, the reception area, and the classrooms themselves). Successful schools place themselves in the mind of a first-time parent with a tiny kindergartner. They assess their facility with a critical eye: Is the school inviting and friendly? Does it look like children are learning there?

• School communications. Knowing that any one form of communication is not sufficient, successful schools disperse their communications: press releases, Web sites, telephone hot- lines, frequent newsletters that have useful content written in plain language, materials like lunch menus and calendars that are used to answer voters' concerns, and even informal hand-written notes home to parents. Communications are responsive, not static. One school, after being criticized because parents were not informed of school assemblies, placed an events calendar in its weekly newsletter, so parents would know they were always welcome to stop by for special events and assemblies.

• Parents. Parents are given a role to play as collaborators in the education process; they co-sign learning contracts with their child and teacher (Decker & Decker, 1988). They are encouraged to comment on school policies and share in some decisions. The school offers diverse engagement opportunities so parents can choose the event that most suits their style.

Parents who feel empowered take initiative. One school principal noted that a candidate for a teaching position drove by the school one evening to look around, and saw a parent weeding the flowerbed by the front entrance. Such evidence of community pride and commitment is contagious: the teacher noted that she wanted to be part of such a community.

• Businesses. Businesses are asked for their input, and they see it being acted upon. They are given chances for community involvement that serves their needs.

• Voters with no children. Successful schools have multi-layered outreach strategies to build a rapport with everyone in the community. Community residents are asked to solve district problems, like setting standards or designing new school buildings. Through opportunities like these, skepticism melts away. Through constant outreach efforts, even people who do not directly interact with the district are impressed at its efforts to solicit their opinions.